[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The acquittal of Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the People Power Party, who was indicted on charges including requesting the hiring of acquaintances or supporters' children at Kangwon Land, has been finalized. This comes 3 years and 7 months after his indictment in July 2018.
On the 17th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) dismissed the prosecution's appeal in the final hearing of Kwon's appeal trial, who was indicted on charges of obstruction of business, bribery involving a third party, and abuse of authority, thereby upholding the lower court's ruling that acquitted him of all charges.
The court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment in terms of exceeding the limits of free evaluation of evidence, the establishment of obstruction of business by intimidation, the illegitimate request and quid pro quo relationship in the bribery involving a third party, the abuse of authority in the obstruction of rights exercise, or the legal principles regarding co-conspirators."
Kwon was accused of conspiring with then Kangwon Land President Choi Heung-jip from November 2012 to April the following year during the public recruitment process for trainees at Kangwon Land, requesting hiring from the HR manager, resulting in the hiring of 11 people including an intern secretary from his office, thereby obstructing the hiring process by intimidation (obstruction of business).
Additionally, Kwon was charged with bribery involving a third party and obstruction of business by having his secretary hired as an expert in water quality and environment at Kangwon Land in return for fulfilling Choi's illegitimate requests, such as blocking the increase of individual consumption tax imposed on casino entry related to Kangwon Land and suppressing the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit on Kangwon Land Water World’s new business. He was also accused of abuse of authority by pressuring officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to appoint a high school classmate who helped with his election campaign as an outside director of Kangwon Land.
In the first trial, the court acquitted Kwon, stating that the testimonies of former President Choi and others regarding recruitment corruption during the trainee selection process and the hiring of the secretary with career experience were not credible.
The court judged that there was insufficient evidence to consider Kwon and former President Choi as accomplices, and although some requests were acknowledged, they were not deemed illegitimate requests.
Furthermore, the court concluded that the allegation of involvement in appointing outside directors of Kangwon Land was not proven to show that officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy abused their authority to obstruct the exercise of nomination rights for outside directors, and even if such acts occurred, it was difficult to see that Kwon conspired in them.
The appellate court maintained this judgment.
At that time, the court pointed out, "The issue is whether the defendant requested former President Choi," and added, "Although the substantive truth is unknown, it appears that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to exclude the judge's reasonable doubt."
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